Avenging Angels
by True-Guardian
Summary: Mobius is at the brink of World War. The Echidnas are all that stand between the waring countries, the Dark Legion and the end of Mobius's free people. The Guardians and the Echidnas go to war to stop the Dark Legion and save as many lives as possible.
1. Chapter 1

**INTRODUCTION**

**T**his and all subsequent stories take place approximately fifteen years after the combined Mobian forces managed to successfully overthrow and destroy the tyrannical rule of 'The Doctor'. The war against him took many years and many lives but was finally put to an end by a collaboration of the leaders from the free people and the most proficient warriors from each of the races.

The elimination of the main threat was taken well at first but soon after jubilation had died, the individual country leaders realised that there was now no common denomination to hold the alliance together and that with such a vast tyrant gone, there would be great amounts of land and resources to be claimed in his wake.

This caused what was to be called the 'War of Greed' as each country fought to hold on to its own and also take from its neighbours. More people were killed in the years following 'The Doctors' defeat than in the entire of his dominance.

It took four long years but finally a delegation from the Angel Island managed to broker a fragile peace between the countries, using their wisdom to divide the remaining resources evenly. This was held as law by the governments on the planet and all wars ceased for a time. It was known as the 'Angel Manifesto' and in theory still exists today.

However it wasn't long before other parties became involved that again caused massive friction, igniting anew what was already a fragile peace. The Dark Legion used all its influence and power to spark long held hatreds and grudges, thrusting the countries into another dark age.

The Echidnas had been pulled into the conflict early on. Normally on their Floating Island well above Mobius they had little to no interest in the goings on of the Mobians. Wars were not at all uncommon between the countries. Individual leaders always petitioned for Echidna support, claiming their cause was much more worthy than their adversaries. The Echidnas, as a rule, turned every one down, content to remain aloof on their island high above.

However, this time was different. The six countries amassed against the three remaining had support that the Angel Island and especially the Guardians had a distinct interest in. The Dark Legion assistance had gone unnoticed for ten months and in this time the 'Alliance' had made massive gains in terms of ground and conquest, literally being on the doorstep of victory.

When the Guardians found out their fury was unprecedented and they felt honour bound to interject. It was their own twisted kin that had reignited the destruction and they were the only ones capable of stopping it. They let the public decide on the matter and the result was unanimous…

For the first time in a thousand and four years the Angel Island would go to war.

The Echidnas knew under any circumstances, the Dark Legion and anyone they supported must be stopped if any hope was to remain of preventing the destruction of the remaining three loyal countries. World war was upon them, but even with the might of the Echidna military and the unrivalled knowledge they had amassed over many thousands of years they would still be hard pressed to turn back the combined forces arrayed against them.

**CHAPTER 1**

**1230 Hours, 15****th**** August 3055 (Haven Calendar) / Drop Troop Tactical Deployment Centre, West Angel Island, 40,000 Feet Above Sea Level. **

**C**orporal Finn casually checked his personal gear with practised ease as he looked around the loading bay. The place was massive, six large swordfish transports had landed here the day before and now the crews were running through their pre flight checks assisted by dozens and dozens of technicians, gun crews and loaders. Looking down on them from his heightened position it looked like a swarm of multicoloured ants running around with no sense of coherency. This thought was noncence however and he knew it to, for if there was one thing his kind was good at it was organisation. He smiled occasionally in wonder of how quickly the crews loaded the armaments and primed them, flinching when one of the loaders accidentally let a spanner drop on to an unloaded missile. The pilot of the aircraft dropped down from the wing that he was inspecting and then proceeded to bawl at the young technician until he was satisfied the incident wouldn't happen again. 'Just like boot camp' Finn thought haphazardly as he checked over his gear again.

"Hey Corp, what do you reckon is going on?"

Finn glanced over his shoulder at private Gilly who was checking his kit also, no more than four feet away. He was smoking. "I don't know Gill, something big, something really big I think. Why else would they have brought two platoons of us together?"

Gilly nodded, a little ash dropping onto his body armour which he brushed away with his hand. "Good point, me and the lads thought that was a little strange"

Finn smiled at the reply 'me and the lads'. What that really meant was that Gilly had an idea and that the others just agreed with him. Every unit had someone like Gill in their ranks, rumour had it he was a Sergeant once and got busted for fighting with an officer. Finn trusted him as his second in command; he was a devil in a firefight and had a cunning twist that made him devious when not in one. He was a good soldier. "Id guess that with the drop ships being down there and with them being readied and all, oh and with us being up here, that were going to hit somewhere big and hard"

Private Gilly smiled, showing the two missing teeth he was famed for, took the last drag of his cigarette and stamped it out on the floor, giving the fingers to an orderly that shouted at him for littering. "Must be a girl then" he chuckled dirtily.

This got a laugh from the other guys around him and when he finally caught on Finn chuckled as well. This was his first command with this section of troops and so far he was sure everything was going fine. Jokes like that broke down the tension that always popped up before a mission kicked off properly, he welcomed them. Finn checked his ammunition carefully and then cocked the rifle to make sure it was clear, he released the bolt forward with a large crack and then smiled. "Oh I hope so…"

"Deck, ATTENTION!"

All of the troops struggled to their feet quickly and snapped to attention as the order was called. Out of large blast door stepped Lieutenant '8Ball' Orin and his second in command Sergeant Major 'Treacle' Treshin. It was Treshin that had bawled the order, no creature on the planet could have argued with that voice. It was a bawling voice of the highest order. "At, EASE!" Treshin shouted and then trailed behind the lieutenant as he walked towards the assembled troops.

Finn breathed heavily and then stood at ease in front of his troops; the Lieutenant stopped his walk fifteen paces in front of the squads and crossed his arms across his large chest. A lot of things have been said about lieutenants and junior officers in the military but everything went out the window with '8Ball' Orin, possibly the most feared and respected officer in the force. Hed come up the ranks with Treshin as his second since they both joined years before. He was a legend.

"Command has agreed a course of action gentlemen, we are to relocate and eliminate any resistance at the Drop Zone. From there we will create a secure area to move in specialist teams on the objective. That is all you need to know, any questions?"

Complete silence.

"Very well, we move out in fifteen"

"Deck, ATTENTION!" Treshin bawled again and the troops came smartly to attention as the Lieutenant paced out of the hanger. Treshin stayed behind until he had gone and then turned on the waiting troops like a bolt of thunder. "Which one of you has been smoking? I can bloody smell it so don't lie to me!"

Gilly, possibly as a reflex self defence mechanism took a pace forward and stared at an interesting piece of metal approximately ten inches about the Sergeant Majors head. "That would be me Sir".

Finn cursed.

Treshin stalked over Gill and stood directly in front of him, invading his personal space. "I won't ask you how you got them in here Private Gill, ive know you to long to ask questions of your ability to hide things and I _really_ don't want to know where you hid them. You have two seconds to find that packet…"

Gill reached down to his trouser map pocket and pulled them out deftly, holding them in front of him with an open palm. "I believe that this is the packet in question Sergeant Major Treshin" he replied calmly.

Treshin stood for a second completely immobile, just staring at him. "I believe that is a packet of cigarettes yes, ones that banned due to the close proximity of a huge array of explosives" he held out his hand and took them from Gill, his glare not leaving his face. "There's only one thing left to do with them isn't there Gill?"

"Yes sir"

Treshin smiled evilly as he took one and put it in his mouth... "Im afraid it's my duty to smoke one as an example of how dispose of them safely and then pass them around so you can all practise…"

Everyone chuckled and Gill breathed a sigh of relief.

"Got a light?"

**H**alf an hour later they were in the air and heading for the 'big ride'. This was the term that drop troops such as the '8 Balls' used for when the transports hit the mass of turbulence at the side of the island and were forced to nose dive in order to clear the rim and descend to the surface of Mobius. It was three minutes of pure hell.

"Lock down!" Finn shouted at the troops in the transport as he sat down in his seat. Finn smiled worriedly as he secured himself into the transport harness, which looked like a multicoloured fairground ride, with a hiss and a click. Seconds later and with more than a few curses the ten troops under his command had all locked themselves in and some were already clutching their good luck charms. It was a well know fact that if anything mechanical would happen it would happen on the 'ride' and that tended to mean a forty thousand foot drop quicker that you wanted to. No military craft had been lost this year but the previous year they lost four in one go, taking forty guys with them.

"Hey Corp" Gill shouted from across the transport, his head covered in the large protective helmet and visors the entire drop troopers wore.

Finn looked over. "What is it?"

Gill pulled a little magic eight ball out of his top pocket and shook it violently, all eyes in the transport watched intently. "Are we going to die today?" he asked and then shook it again. After a second or two he smiled and held it up for every one to see.

'_ONLY IF YOU WANT TO!' _

Finn laughed along with the others and gripped the bars of his restraint as the red light came on in the bay. A moment later the aircraft nosedived, throwing him into the side of the harness with a bang and he winced as the turbulence rocked the aircraft with massive lunges and thumps. He heard the engines outside fighting against the onrush of wind and hopefully winning and then he blacked out for a moment coming round around again a moment later.

"Hey Corp!" Gill shouted from across the transport again, apparently unaffected by the nosedive and the noise. "You know what the best thing about being an '8Ball' is?" he laughed. He pointed to the insignia on his uniform of a flaming black eight ball. "When were down, we win the game!" he laughed and then blanked out himself.

**F**inn awoke and then immediately looked out of the nearby steamed up window using his arm sleeve to clear the condensation. Outside was a bright day, slightly overcast and drizzly but a bright day. The transport had levelled out probably five minutes ago and had accelerated to extreme speeds. The pilot was literally skimming tree tops with the underside of the craft and he could hear the occasional strikes of a branch as they careened towards the target. The ground was a mixture of green grass pastures and rocky outcrops, it looked desolate.

_"This is Orin, ready up, drop zone ahead in one minute"_

Finn tapped his communication bead and replied in acknowledgment. He lifted a thumb to the troops and undid his restraint which rose up slowly. He got out of his seat and rubbed his aching neck with his hand. "Lock in guys and get ready to drop, load your weapons and prime your grenades"

Everyone hooked themselves into the large drop pylon in the centre of the aircraft with a sturdy coil of treated cord and did as they were told, priming their grenades with activation codes and loading their weapons with the plasma cells.

_"Drop zone in fifteen seconds"_ Orin's voice shouted over the radio.

Gill tapped Finn on the back as a good luck gesture and then waited. A yellow light flashed in the holding bay and then the aircraft slewed to a sudden stop, its engine whining so loud that it was deafening. A moment later, the floor gave way…


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2 **

**1300 Hours, Drop Zone, Mobian Airspace, 300Km South of House Acorn Territory. **

**T**he fifty foot drop the ground took three seconds, the tight rope harness they all wore let out forty feet and then the last ten feet was arrested suddenly by their drop belts. They landed on their feet barely, the ground vibrating as their boots hit the rocks. Finn looked around and ejected the rope from his harness, the dust from the engines above was creating a massive dirt storm and he could barely see the others in front of him. "Two section on the ground sir, advancing on objective" he sent out over the comms to Orin. Finn grabbed his weapon and slung it properly removing the safety catch. "Two section on me, move move move…" He got up and ran forward out of the dust cloud, immediately followed by his section. As they emerged they got the first sight of the target, a large black and ominous looking complex. Ahead of them they could see a reinforced door, set back in the complex's wall and it was shut tight. "Kull, use the explosives to blow the door" he shouted and pointed at the entrance. "The rest of you keep your eyes open"

Kull, the sections explosives expert ran forward to the door and unslung his pack, producing three circles. The placed them on the joints of the door and then pressed the correct arming codes. "Move back!" he shouted as a warning and then ran for it.

After five seconds, a loud crump sounded and one door flew out towards the transport that was still hovering, hitting its side with a clang. The pilot gave the troops the finger as he swung the aircraft around then took off. Two section regrouped and looked at the black hole that had been the doors. "Lights on!" Finn ordered and switched his own light pack on. "Kull, Haller take point and then rest of you follow up, clear the area"

Kull and Haller moved forward slowly into the darkness, followed by Finn and the others. They didn't know it yet, but today was going to be one of those days.

**T**hey managed to get sixty metres into the complex before reaching the first signs of resistance. In the briefing they had been warned that the enemy would be heavily armed and dangerous. Kull had managed to warn them in time to duck the firestorm that had opened up on them when they moved out of a corridor and into a large room of some kind. They returned fire, the crack of the plasma rifles deafening in the close quarters. After a few moments the return fire disappeared and ceased. Haller sent two grenades into the enemy position as a goodwill gesture and they detonated with a low bang. "Clear it and hold it" Finn shouted as he tried to make sense of the static on his radio. The others, led by Gilly moved up and searched the area returning back a moment or two later. "Couple of the wolves we were told about boss, had a heavy weapon put up for us. They are all down and out"

Finn nodded and then tried to contact Orin. "No joy on the radio" he seethed. "We will continue on until we come to the objective"

Gill nodded in agreement. "Right you are Corp, move till engage"

They returned to the others and then formed up again, moving towards the centre of the complex. Finn took a second to look at the bodies of the wolves as he passed them, all charred and bleeding from the plasma weapons and the grenades. He felt no emotion. They were heathens.

**O**ne minute later they got their second engagement. Haller screamed a warning to the others just in time to let them take cover. He took three shots to the back as he tried to get out of the way and fell to the floor with a thud. Steam coming from his body armour and a small pool of blood already forming underneath him. He was out cold.

"Return fire damn it!" Gill shouted as he stuck his rifle around a broken piece of wall and sprayed down the corridor.

Finn rose up and fired a full clip down the corridor, ducking just in time to avoid a searing shot over his head. He knelt down to reload and took his place next to Gill who was also reloading. They both looked at each other, then at Haller's twitching body. Gill took out a grenade and primed it. "On three" he said.

Finn smiled and told the others. They all nodded.

Gill threw the grenade over the top of the rubble and down the corridor. It landed, rolled and then went off with a loud thud, shaking the walls. Before the sound had even gone away all nine of them had begun charging down the corridor firing from the hip to clear the enemy. Behind them, Hallers body twitched again and then stilled.

Their firepower had managed to keep the enemies head down long enough for them to reach the barricade which had been set up. Finn realised he was empty and instead dived over the barricade with the others. Behind it, three wolves in heavy armour were cowering from the firepower. They watched as the section landed in front of them and then growled in defiance. They dropped their crude weapons and with a roar they charged Finns section, intent of tearing them apart with their bare claws.

Kull managed a short ranged burst of fire that punched the first off its feet with a spray of blood and in return was batted across the corridor and into the opposite wall with a horrible crunch of bone, he literally slid down the solid steel wall and came to a stop in a heap on the floor. Gill ran up to bayonet the one who had attacked Kull and managed to score a hit on the creatures leg, the steel running right through the thigh and out of the other side. The wolf roared in pain and then punched him in the head, throwing him to the floor. Finn managed to duck a wild blow from one of the almost frothing wolves and quick draw his long fighting knife, lifting up with momentum he managed to ram it up to the hilt in the beast's stomach and just about push the heavy wolf from on top of him and to the floor. A second later he was knocked to the ground and blacked out for a moment as something heavy hit him across the back.

When he awoke he could see Gill fighting with the remaining wolf, with Private Gabor on the wolfs back trying to pull it off him. The wolf bit through Gabor's forearm with a messy attack and then threw him over his shoulder. Gill managed to pull out his sidearm and shot the wolf though the head twice, the shots making the beasts head recoil back wickedly. The body of the wolf stayed upright for a moment and then it slumped sideways. Finn watched as Gill managed to claw his way from under the corpse and after a moment of catching his breath, reload his rifle and retrieve his knife.

Finn got to his feet painfully and then retrieved his rifle and knife also. He took stock of the situation as quickly as possible. He had three men down, Haller, Kull and Gabor, the latter was whimpering silently to himself as he tried to stem the flow of blood pouring from his arm. He detailed the medic, Private Jang to deal with Gabor whilst he checked Kull. It only took him a second to realise that he was dead, no living things neck was that shape without it being broken. Gill came back a few moments later carrying Haller's body as well on his shoulder. "Bled out boss" he cursed. "He's going to need an evac right now or he's a gonner"

Finn almost growled as he ordered the others to fan out and secure the dimly lit room. He was impressed with the way the section had dealt with the wolf's in hand to hand combat but he had lost two guys in under a minute. He knelt down and took Kull's dog tags, ripping them off. _"Section two to command, this is Corporal Finn, do your receive?" _

Static for a moment and then some garbled messages. The line sorted itself out in a few more seconds and Finn could clearly hear gunfire over the radio. "Two this is One, go ahead"

_"Heavy resistance sir, one man killed in action, one man seriously injured and one man wounded sir, what are your orders?" _

The line crackled for a moment whilst Orin made up his mind. _"Two this is One, move forward to link up with my section. We have a medical team with us. Scanner shows we are only three hundred metres away to your east. Move as quickly as possible. Over." _

Finn sagged at the order. _"Received sir, moving to link up"_

"_Good luck"_ Orin replied and then the line went dead.

"Orders boss?" Gill asked, wiping some blood from his mouth and covering the corridor.

"We move up, we always move up"

"Right you are boss" he replied spitting some more blood away. "Moving up"

**T**wo minutes later they managed to arrive at an intersection of two corridors, making a crossroads. The far door had been destroyed by explosives and power cables flickered with energy as they wriggled unsecured on the floor. The right hand entrance still had a door that was secured. That was the way to the centre of the complex. Finn sent up Jang to search around and he came back a few moments later. "Looks like our guys up ahead Corporal; the Lieutenant is occupying the next room"

Finn thanked him and ordered his men to move up. They came to the junction and took the left hand corridor until they came to a large room which had been taken with a fierce firefight. Both doors had been annihilated by a blast and the ground was hot from a detonation. The room had a thick layer of smoke which was only negated by the helmets they all wore. He looked around at the other troopers and the corpses that lay on the floor; almost fifteen of the wolves like he had fought lay dead.

They linked up with the others and took defensive places; Gill took the injured Haller to the medics who were waiting for him whilst Finn found the lieutenant talking to a comms officer both of them kneeling down. He joined them and saluted Lieutenant Orin. "It was pretty bad back there sir, very hard hand to hand with those Wolves"

"We've had the same here Corporal; unfortunately the swine's have managed to shut off the inner sanctum before we could get there" he pointed to the reinforced door Finn had seen at the intersection. "We don't have the right gear to get through, so im calling up some reinforcements"

Finn nodded slowly and looked through the smoke towards the door. It was pockmarked with previous detonations but they had obviously been unable of getting through. He turned back to the officer. "What's in there?" he asked innocently.

"Don't know Corporal" Orin replied genuinely. "Not my place to know, but im damn well not going to be stopped by a bloody door"

A shout came up from one of the troops near the doorway and then a loud crack of gunfire as they opened fire. "You may not have to worry about the reinforcement's sir" Finn replied whilst jumping to his feet. "I think someone opened it"

Orin jumped to his feet also and was knocked back down again with all the others as a large explosion ripped its way through the room engulfing the roof in fire. "What the hell!" he shouted trying to find his feet again.

"Legion!" someone shouted and then gurgled as he was run through.

Finn staggered to his feet and looked through the smoke that was clearing at three dark figures approaching his troops, stepping out of the now open doorway. They were firing short controlled bursts of fire, each of them twice the size of a regular trooper. All of the return shots that hit just bounced off their metal armour. They cackled manically and muttered guttural curses as they advanced, red eyes glowing in the darkness.

"Destroyers!" he screamed and fired his rifle at the approaching behemoths. "Bring them down!"

As one all of the troopers that had been in the room and were able opened fire on the beasts. Instead of drabs of fire at first, they were hit by a veritable fusillade of plasma and solid shell fire from twenty troopers which continued to bounce harmlessly off their powerful armour. They made no sound except the whirring of their rapid fire cannons and occasional a hiss as a piece of important machinery was hit by a stray round. They kept moving slowly towards the troops, not breaking stride. Behind them the door to the centre remained open. "Fall back!" Gill shouted, emerging from the smoke carrying yet another wounded man. "Fall back, we need heavier weaponry!"

Finn saw him running towards him with the wounded trooper and then stop as something thudded into the back of him. He watched in horror as Gill just stopped as his eyes rolled back into his head, he dropped the wounded soldier and then fell to his knees. He stayed there for a second and then slumped forward over the trooper he had been carrying.

"Regroup and fall back!" Orin screamed at the smoke. "Move backwards to the next room!" he got up and ran towards the room, his comms officer following him. Finn just got up and ran with him, hoping to Edmund he didn't catch one in the back like Gill had. As he entered the room his heart dropped again. Up ahead of him in the dark were six dark figures, dressed in sinister body hugging uniforms and wearing skull masks. They were approaching through the smoke at a rapid pace. "Behind us, there's more here! He shouted. He was about to pull the trigger when Orin grabbed the rifle and pushed it way.

"Reinforcements" Orin shouted at him over the din of the battle. He winked and then turned around to continue firing and the approaching Legionnaires. Finn took another look at the approaching figures for a moment. They looked so sinister and so alike to the pictures he had seen that it was unbelievable to think they were not Legion. He watched in awe as they picked their targets up ahead in the room and began firing their weapons. The rifles didn't fire like the standard plasma rifle did, they kicked and jerked, but they were obviously much more potent that the one he carried. He sagged against a pillar and just stared at them as one of the group reloaded with practised ease and then continued to fire. He noticed a large high powered shot from somewhere in the darkness which screamed down the hall past him and the lieutenant and struck home with a loud bang. A sniper weapon.

"Move back Lieutenant, take up firing positions alongside us" One of the figures had ordered without so much of a gasp. "Together we can hold this room"

Orin nodded and shouted to the rest of his men that were standing, all seven of them. They sprinted back to the firing figures and took up a position next to them in a rough defensive line. "Fire" he shouted at his troops and they opened fire again as one. Finn amongst them.

Despite the roar of the formidable firepower the three daemonic figures approached towards the door and nearly entered the room. The smoke wasn't anywhere near as thick and Finn could see them clearly. Like all other troopers, he had been given training on different Legionnairetactics and weaponry and they had all scoffed at the poor photos they had been handed to study. There was no laughing now. The creatures were huge, armoured to the teeth. The lead one carried a large barrelled rifle in his right arm and a massive powered claw on the left hand which was drenched in bright red blood. The creatures head was nothing more that an armoured face, half a skull and half uncovered robotics with a baleful red glass eye socket. It hissed and groaned as the mechanisms inside its body held it upright.

"Dear Edmund…" Finn whispered, unable to do anything else in the frightening presence of the beasts. He didn't even hear his rifle run out of ammunition; he just kept pulling the trigger.

"Fall back!" someone shouted from behind them. "Jacob, get them back and get to the objective, ill deal with this!"

Finn turned to see a very powerfully muscled figure, dressed in similar armour to the others running towards them. His spines trailed out behind him as he closed in. As the figure ran past them all Orin grabbed Finns arm and pulled him alongside him. "Come on!" he screamed. Finn began running alongside his lieutenant but looked back over his shoulder. Finn somehow made one of those heroic decisions you only regret for the few remaining moments of your life. "Carry on sir" he shouted whilst pulling out his knife. "Im going back to help"

Orin looked at him for a moment and then at the disappearing skull masked figure moving through the darkness. "Good luck" he replied as he ran off with his men following the one called Jacob and the five other skull masked warriors.

With more than a little hesitance Corporal Finn ran back to the room to help and in doing so became the sole witness to something that he would never forget.

The first thing he noticed was that everything seemed to slow down to a crawl as he watched the fight. For some reason he looked at his hand and then clenched it twice.

The second thing he noticed was the combat between the sole figure and the LegionnaireDestroyers. The figure stood in the centre of the room for a moment and just stared at them. They appeared to be staring back. All three had now entered the room and stood apart by a few meters, obviously attempting to circle the figure. The figure stood motionless except he casually scanned all three of them, looking at their eyes, not flinching.

The Legionnaires returned the glares, doing nothing. Then all at once they moved together to attack, frightingly quickly.

The figure moved quicker than anything Finn had ever seen. He ducked the first attack of a large claw and then span around to block another attack aimed at his stomach. The air around the figure seemed to glimmer for a second with a red hot haze, he shook violently for a single second and then he began his counter attack. The skull masked figure barged all three of the massive Destroyers away and grabbed one by the claw. He bent it back and simply tore it off the machine with a shower of sparks and a cry of rage from the Legionnaire. He followed up with a right hand punch that lifted the thing off its feet and threw it to the ground two metres away.

Standing still and breathing heavily, the figure dropped the powered claw to the floor and looked at the other two though his skull mask. He moved closer to them both and then pounced like a predatory cat. He landed a powerful undercut on one of them and then another straight after. He fell on top of the machine as it staggered over, literally smashing the thing to the ground and then wiping out its circuits and head with incredibly powerful blows to the face and neck. Black oil and sparks flew out in all directions as he continued to pummel the Destroyer into a pulp.

Finn couldn't believe what he was seeing or even understand how much strength was required to literally tear an armoured limb from a LegionnaireDestroyer. All he could focus on through the haze was the third machine, now approaching the figure and about to smash him with its large mace like arm whilst he grappled with the fallen Legionnaire.

For some unknown reason to himself, and something he would never understand Corporal Finn charged with his knife. He leapt onto the creatures back and plunged his blade as far as it would go through the creatures head and down through its skull. He held on for all his life whilst he continued to drive the blade further and further, trying to move it about to cause more damage. The Destroyer turned around and around, trying to shake him from its back but couldn't. His arms ached but he held on. After what seemed like an eternity the mammoth creature sagged, held out a horribly mechanised arm as if reaching for something and then toppled to the ground with him under it in, wriggling in its death throes.

It crushed the wind from his lungs and as he tried to free himself he could feel his eyesight fading. He was a dead man, the creature weighed tonnes and it had fallen on him. Finn held out a hand for something to hold onto as his eyesight blacked out and the world faded. He was aware for briefest second of someone holding it reply.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

**1815 Hours, Guardian Headquarters, Haven, Somewhere on Angel Island, 40000 Feet Above Sea Level. **

**B**linding light. Blinding light, a monotonous beeping and overwhelming feeling of pain. That's what he first felt when he awoke. Above him, through blurry eyes he could just about make out the seven bright lights on what he hoped fleetingly was a surgery bed light platform. He caught a glimpse of some movement in the far right of his eyesight and tried to turn his head to look. He couldn't and for a second he panicked.

"Don't be alarmed, your neck isn't broken, you're just secured to the bed to stop any further injury" The voice was soft and helpful.

Finn tried to talk and found he couldn't do that either, there was a pipe in his mouth and he could feel it in his throat. He moved his right arm painfully instead and someone took hold of it and placed it back on the bed. A female blur appeared from the right side of vision and looked straight at him.

"You are a very, very lucky individual Corporal Finn" she beamed. "You should be dead"

Finn rolled his eyes as much as possible. He felt like he was.

"Ive just put some more painkillers on for you; your going to fall back to sleep now but you will feel much better"

Finn closed his eyes and tried to nod which he couldn't do. He felt better already.

**T**he single gunship skimmed over the desert flats and then came to a slowing halt. It hovered on the spot, its desert camouflage making it invisible from above. After a few moments a grinding noise filled the air and a large trapdoor in the ground opened up. The gunship descended steadily into the ground and then the trapdoor began to close with a hiss, shutting off the rest of the world.

Slowly hovering to the ground, occasionally jinking unsteadily as one wing tilted upright it landed on a premarked landing pad and cut its engines. With a whine they slowly stopped rotating and then became silent a few seconds later. The hangar lights cast earthly shadows across the aircraft as it cooled.

The ramp on the back of the gunship lowered, the amber light inside strobing as it did so. It clanged to a stop on the metal landing pad. Emerging from the darkness of the aircraft, they disembarked.

First to come down the ramp was Jacob, the Commander, dressed in the tight fitting body suit all of his team wore. He carried his weapon over his back and was busy entering a report into a handheld computer on his wrist. He still wore his skull mask. Major Julie-Su and Lieutenant 'Delilah' Da-May the other two officers, both female, stepped down the ramp directly behind him, they had removed their masks and both instinctively brushed their spines from their faces as they hit the colder wind in the hangar.

A bag flew through the air and landed at the bottom of the ramp with a crunch, narrowly missing the three at the bottom. Julie-Su turned to look back into the transport. "You know what that's full of right?" she asked almost knowing the answer.

Sergeant Drake Surewind appeared at the top of the ramp, alongside his friend Corporal 'Mexican' Carlos. He rolled his eyes and smiled. "Yeah, of course, they aren't armed"

Julie-Su looked at him, at the bag again and then shook her head. "Right, whatever"

"Make way boys" a gruff voice interrupted and then Sergeant Frank 'God' Harmer barged them out of the way. "Someone needs to get to the range and zero this thing back in, its out" he stroked his sniper rifle like a baby. "Yeah, cause that's exactly where were going isn't it Drake" Carlos smirked and nudged him in the ribs.

Drake smiled evilly. "Yeah, no intention whatsoever of heading straight to the bar"

"Drink will make you annoying…"

Drake turned to look back into the transport and nodded. "Yeah right, im annoying anytime, you just notice it more when im steaming" he chuckled.

A large figure stepped out of the transport and took a deep breath of air. His face was stern and part of it had been implanted with technology, above, around and under his left eye. Knuckles, the Guardian of the Floating Island took a long look around and then stepped down the ramp, heavy footsteps clanging of the descend ramp. He stepped off the ramp and onto the landing pad with a thud and stood next to Jacob who removed his mask to speak aloud.

"Okay guys, ten minutes to stow gear and weapons…debrief at the table" Jacob ordered. "Foods already been organised"

"Outstanding service your family have here Guardian" Delilah purred in her delicious voice. "Defecting was well worth it"

Knuckles smiled wryly and took the device from Jacob when he offered it to him. "We live to serve…" he replied coolly. He looked at the computer for a moment and then began to pace over towards the armoury, the others in tow. "What did we do about the drop troopers who saw us?" he asked to everyone without turning around. Jacob replied. "Same as we always do, move them around a little"

"So I would be expecting to bump into one at some point, in Haven?"

"More than likely"

Knuckles nodded and smiled. "If we take any more people on, im going to have to get this place expanded" he moved his hands around as if to accentuate his point. "The council will love that…"

"It's either employ them or mind blank them" Delilah replied.

"I agree it better to employ them, but don't you think twelve in one month is getting a little silly?"

"They are fine troops" Drake butted in with his Australian accent. "You couldn't find better"

"We should take a leaf from the companies back in the city and start being equal opportunities employers, who knows we might even recruit some ex Legionnaires?" Knuckles chuckled as he watched Julie-Su, Delilah and Jacob all glare at him. "What?" he continued.

They reached the armoury a moment or two later. Julie-Su, who hated having to wear the restrictive armour, was the first to remove it as always. She literally threw the skull mask onto its holder and then like a cat she wriggled her way out of the heavy body armour, her slender figure just about managing it. She let it rest on its side whilst she leant down to remove her thigh holster and belt with delicate fingers.

Drake wolf whistled. Julie-Su rolled her eyes. It was a standard joke.

The others followed suit getting unarmoured. They all placed their rifles on the armourer's desk and stood around for a moment. Julie-Su and Delilah had both unzipped their skin-tight suits down to the waist and let the top half sag. Julie-Su rubbed her shoulder under her vest top casually as she waited.

Knuckles let them finish before he placed the two heavy pistols he carried onto the armours desk. The armourer wasn't around at the moment but would be soon. He unclipped his heavy belt and dropped that onto the desk as well. As he did so he looked down at his hands, noticing something. They were stained with blood and oil. He sighed and just stared at them.

"Guardian, you coming?" Jacob asked as the others disappeared through a blast door.

Knuckles turned around to face him and held up his hands. "Ill be along, just going to get cleaned up"

Jacob looked at his hands, nodded, and then followed the others.

"How many this time?"

Knuckles turned around suddenly to see Julie-Su leaning against the wall, her arms crossed and a look of genuine concern on her slightly tired eyes. He crossed over to a sink that was nearby and sprayed his hands with disinfectant spray before beginning to clean them in the boiling hot water. "Two" he sighed heavily, his shoulders sagging. He watched as the blood and oil mixed with the water, turning it a murky red colour, the oil floating on the surface. "How many more before…"

"You did what you had to, no-one will question that" she didn't flinch. "Get cleaned up and ill meet you at the bar for the debrief, it will be better then"

Knuckles nodded, his heavy spines slightly rocking. "Ill be there in ten" he replied.

Julie-Su, as silent as a predatory tigress, nodded and disappeared again.

Slowly, and with forced effort, Knuckles crossed to his own armour bay. He took a piece of chalk and then marked another two lines on the running total.

**J**acob took a sip of his drink and then took a large bite of a burger. He looked around at the others, seated around the circular debriefing table in the bar. It was a strange thing, there were over twenty other rooms in Haven that he knew of that could be used for this task, all much better equipped. However, the bar was always the first choice. It suited the team well.

"He's coming right?" Jacob asked once he had finished eating.

"Yes" Julie-Su replied. "Begin anyway"

Jacob nodded. "Okay guys. We have a worrying dilemma. Why the hell were Legionnaire Destroyers doing at that target? And more importantly what were they guarding?"

"Well we know that the legion only deploy them when they are hiding something really important" Julie-Su replied.

"True" Jacob nodded. "Any ideas?"

No-one said a word, they were all completely stumped.

"What about the hard drives we managed to recover?" Carlos asked almost as an afterthought. "They must have had something important on them that warranted that much protection".

"The 'stiffs' are collating the data as we speak. It could be interesting" Jacob replied.

"Id prefer if you didn't speak about my ancestors that way, commander" Knuckles smiled as he walked into the bar through the open door. "Though the description is probably accurate"

Drake smiled and handed Knuckles his drink as he sat down next to him.

"Point noted Guardian" Jacob apologised. "Basically until we get any further information, its stand down"

"How long?" God asked.

"A day or two maybe"

Knuckles reached across and stole half a burger from Drakes plate. He took a bite and then began chewing. "I reckon ive got another week at best before im out"

Delilah looked up from her wine glass that she held and then looked over at Knuckles. "It's been three weeks already?"

"I think so, this last one took a lot out of me, and I feel like shit"

Jacob nodded and took another drink of his beer. "We need to cater for that on the next few raids"

"What we need to cater for Commander, is some of those Destroyers turning up again. That's five in two months. How many more have they got?" Drake quizzed.

"They produce them like armoured vehicles and they are never short of candidates. Unless by some miracle they stopped, they are probably just producing them as quickly as we are destroying them"

Drake whistled and leaned back in his chair, taking a long pull of his cigarette and downing alot of drink.

"We need to carry something heavier next time if Knuckles isn't going to be with us, just in case" Julie-Su pipped up.

Carlos smiled heavily and tapped the table. "Ive got just the thing, ive just been waiting to use it"

"Does it go boom?" Drake asked almost salivating.

"Boom is much too small a word to use" he replied. "More like Kaboom!"

Delilah rolled her eyes at them both. "Get married to it Carlos, you'd suit it"

"I Might just do that, I might just…"

"Anyway, back to the point in hand" Jacob interrupted before the whole thing got blown away. "In two days time, were going back to the surface, we need to find out for sure what the hell is going on, I don't like being blind and im sure neither do you guys, we are going to poke our noses in and see what bites back."

"Two days is a long time" Julie-Su smiled. "Im going to head back to the city for the day to relax.

"Ill come with you" Delilah butted in. "It's been too long since I saw real people"

"What are we then?" Drake asked puzzled.

"You my dear, dear, gorgeous friend…" Delilah purred and got out of her seat, wrapping her slender arms around Drakes neck and kissing him on the cheek. "You are a predictable, foolish animal…"

Drake smiled as she kissed his cheek. "Damn straight…" he replied.

**L**ieutenant Orin had seen some incredible things in his life that was for sure. He had seen strange sunsets, weird and wonderful wildlife and he had seen ferocious battles that claimed many lives. Now he was lying down in a hospital bed, looking across a pristine medical ward and at the one occupied bed in front of him.

"Ah I see you are awake Lieutenant"

Orin looked to his right and found himself confronted with a beautiful female Echidna that wore a lab coat that should have been sinful. She was stunning. Her glasses just rested nicely on the end of her nose and she was carefully biting the end of her pen as she walked towards him.

"My first question would have been where was I?" he coughed through raspy lungs. "But I already know now…"

"Oh really?" the female replied not really paying much attention to his blurred speech. "Where are you then?" she asked whilst placing a cold stethoscope on his chest.

"Heaven" he sighed.

"Nice try Lieutenant, if only I had a penny for every time I heard that" she purred. "You were close though, not Heaven. No, you're currently a guest in Haven. Courtesy of the Guardians"

Orin choked with shock and leaned up in the bed, the sheet falling away for a moment down to his waist. He was completely naked. "Haven…what, like the real deal?" he almost cried.

"My name is Hazel" she replied, gently pressing him back against the bed. "The real deal" she fiddled with some dials next to him. "You've been unconscious for nearly a day, you took a plasma hit to the helmet and it knocked you out, it really should have snapped your neck but apparently there is muscle there that didn't agree" she pressed his neck with her pen and he felt slightly dizzy as a result. "Its still tender though so we decided against waking you up early, let the body heal itself that's what I always say"

He took in her words for a moment and then got a quick recollection of the second before he was hit. It had come out of nowhere; he hadn't even seen the attacker. "Im not alone here, who are the others?" he almost demanded.

"Ooooh less of the officer speak Mr Orin" Hazel gently chided. "Your not on any battlefield you can win at the moment, I call the shots here and this is my warzone"

"Fair enough, who are the others please" he asked politely.

"There is only one, Lieutenant, directly opposite you is Corporal Finn, I believe you know him"

Orin nodded in reply and smiled a wry smile. The bastard had survived against the Destroyers. Hed promote him as soon as he got a chance. "What about the others?" he asked.

"They have been shipped to a different hospital, a military one, some of them will survive"

"How many did we lose?" he asked almost not wanting to hear the answer.

"I wont lie to you sir, out of the twenty that made up the mission, I hear that the current figure is twelve killed and three seriously wounded"

Orin went quite for a moment and then thought of the repercussions of the figures. Hed lost that many men for nothing and they had gained nothing. What a useless waste of life.

Hazel realised what he was thinking quicker that he would have liked. "You and the Corporal over there are included in the casualty listing; you look quite fit for a dead guy"

Orin looked at her and realised she wasn't joking. "Im not dead" he quizzed.

"Oh but you are Sir, I forgot to congratulate you"

"What for?" he seethed, not liking how confused he was getting.

"Congratulations on joining our little family" she replied wickedly.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4 **

**0130 Hours, 18****th**** August 3055 (Haven Calendar) / 100km West of the Palace of Acorn. Inside friendly territory. Heavy Jungle. **

**A **jungle bird, bright and fluorescent despite the darkness, croaked wildly it's mating call from a high branch in a gnarled old jungle tree. It had done this every day and would have continued to do so have not a large black gunship stripped off the top of the tree with its underbelly. It happened so quickly the bird didn't have a chance.

Screaming over the tree tops with frightening speed the gunship careened towards its target, a suspected Legion command centre hid inside the jungle, away from normal scanners. They had managed to pinpoint its location with the recovered data from the previous drop and now they were going to wipe it out.

The plan was simple. Go in low and quite, eliminate any perimeter guards and then make entrance into the compound, hopefully unnoticed. They would place a large bomb in the centre of the complex and then retreat to safety whilst it detonated. Evacuation would be from a clearing close by. It was simple; nothing in essence to go wrong.

The gunship stopped suddenly and then descended into the dark jungle approximately a kilometre south from the target. It hovered only feet from the ground, its modified silent engines making only a little murmur in the dark night. The boarding ramp descended and then the team made their way out of the back, dropped to the ground and secured the area whilst the gunship lifted off again.

Jacob signalled the all clear once it had disappeared and then they moved off on foot to the objective. The six figures dodged trees and thick roots, solid with age. Their feet becoming stuck occasionally in the swampy ground. They persevered and after only twenty minutes, Delilah who had moved well up front as a scout called back on the radio.

_"Were here, I can see four roaming guards, I had a look through the night vision and it's definitely Legionnaires, looks like a half strength command squad to me" _

Jacob stopped them all dead whilst she relayed the message and then took a second to think. _"Can you get in without being seen?"_ he asked.

The channel was dead for a moment. _"I don't think so, not without removing one or two first, they've got it pretty much on lockdown. They even have perimeter turrets" _

_"There are occasions when I wish we weren't so thorough"_ Julie-su whispered to Jacob, her skull mask relaying the message.

Jacob smiled at the remark and then noted Delilah's position on his command screen on his forearm. He took out a pen and placed four dots on the screen, each a different colour. _"Okay guys, you've got your orders, let's move"_

Four acknowledgment lights blinked on his display and they moved up to where Delilah had taken up position. He had marked them at different corners of the compound and detailed a target each by the time they all got into position. _"This needs to be done quietly, fix silencers"_ he ordered.

Drake, next to him, rolled onto his back and produced a long thin tube which he deftly screwed on to his rifle barrel. _"Im going in"_ he confirmed. _"Cover me" _

Jacob nodded and then took aim at one of the patrolling guards. _"Don't fire until he makes a move" _he told them all.

Drake walked down slowly from his cover and without so much of a flinch he stepped confidently towards the nearest trooper. He got within a few paces before the Legionnaire stopped him.

"Who the hell are you?" the trooper asked, raising his baroque rifle and pointing it at Drakes skull mask. "Where did you come from?"

Drake raised his hands defensively. "Im from the other camp just in the jungle over there" he tilted his head and used his thumb to accentuate the direction he meant.

The Legionnaire looked at him for a moment and then over his shoulder in the way he had just directed. It was all the gap of concentration that Drake needed. He grabbed the Legionnaire's rifle, pulled him towards him and flipped him over silently. The Trooper made a muffled noise as Drake leant down over his prone form and knocked him out quickly with his fist. He took the rifle and threw it away. _"One down boss" _he radioed.

A dull light streaked overhead with a small whip-crack and struck a Legionnaire that had managed to nearly creep up on him. The plasma bolt hit the Legionnaire in the chest, throwing him off his feet and dropping him with a splash in some murky water two feet away. _"Two down" _God confirmed.

Delilah and Julie-Su both watched as the two targets were taken out and then both almost automatically opened fire on the two other guards who were completely oblivious to the situation. The first one wondered why his colleague buckled and dropped suddenly. He turned to look at them both hidden in the foliage and then fell silent as he was hit five times. _"I think that's the lot of them"_ Julie-Su reported.

They waited for another minute or so, Drake knelt out in the open, scanning the darkness with his night vision. _"I think she's right, I can't see anything else out here"_

Jacob got up from his prone firing position and then took a quick look around. _"Alright, find us an entrance Drake, everyone else keep him covered"_. Drake's acknowledgment light popped up in his visor and he could see his marker moving around the far side of the complex.

A few moments later he got a reply. _"There looks like an old cellar hatch around the far side, I can't see anything else"_

_"We will have to take that then, is it open?" _

Jacob heard a little crack on the channel followed by a squeaky hinge opening. _"Yes"_ Drake replied.

_"Okay, hold your ground there, we'll join you" _

"_Be quick" _Drake replied. _"Im scared of the dark" _

**K**nuckles looked around the tree he was hiding behind and silently cursed his own luck. He had narrowly dodged five Legionnaires that had wandered past and now he had another four coming back the other way. This was supposed to have been a simple job; all he had to do was create enough of a distraction so the others could get in and complete the objective at the second site. Now he was running the risk of not just creating a diversion, but creating a miniature war.

Something didn't add up at all about the intelligence he had received. This place should have been deserted. He risked a quick glance again to confirm his suspicions and then took cover. There was nothing more he needed to know here.

He opened a link quickly with Haven, needing to speak to someone who could shed some light on the situation. An image faded into view on his wrist digital screen, it was of his father. _"What's up?"_ the image asked.

_"Something isn't right"_ Knuckles replied, carefully dogging his conversation. _"This place is like a fortress and it's got guards all over the place, you told me it would be deserted"_

_"Intelligence doesn't always get it right, is there too much for you to handle?" _

Knuckles rolled his eyes at the loaded question. Locke wasn't trying to taunt him, he looked genuinely concerned. _"No, I don't think so, as long as nothing heavier turns up" _

"_How do you feel?" _

"_Tired but im still on form" _

_"Okay, then continue on and we will monitor you from here, we've got three gunship's on standby just under a minute away from your location but please try and go unnoticed for as long as possible you may have to fight your way out if you can… good luck…"_ The image faded and then disappeared. Knuckles knelt down and then cursed again, it was undoubtedly going to get hairy.

Without so much as a sound he turned the tree and sprinted across the twenty metre dead ground in a flat two seconds, running right past the back of a patrol that had just moved on and coming to halt with a slight thud against the blackened wall. He quickly searched for a way into the complex but nothing immediately presented itself as an obvious choice. He spent the next minute or so circumnavigating the walls, using the shadows to best cover his moves and still he found no entrances. With more than a bit of anger he returned to the front entrance which was guarded by four Legionnaires, their ornate armour and large setting making them out to be house guards of a particularly high ranking officer or person in the Dark Legion.

"So much for silence" Knuckles muttered to himself as he took out a black circular device and tapped an arming code into it. The explosives red light flickered for a second and the digital counter flicked up the number five in its green neon writing. He tapped the arm button again and then the number changed to four and then three. Leaning carefully around his pillar he then threw it gently underarm towards the main door, taking cover again immediately. The black disc bounced on the concrete flooring once and then skidded to halt dead centre of the reinforced doors.

He held his hands to his ears just as the explosion ripped through the area and sent the doors crashing inwards. The four guards that had been standing watch were propelled through the air, their armour smoking, and landed in a heap twenty feet away. Quickly, and with the fury of an angel, Knuckles drew his twin pistols, stepped out of his cover and began his lone assault.

He fired both firearms whilst he jumped up to the smoking hole that was previously the doors and made his way inside. He dodged to his left in order to successfully avoid a few incoming shots and proceeded to punch both his assailants off their feet with well placed return fire.

Taking cover again, he quickly reloaded and then moved off to what he hoped was the centre of the complex at a flat out run, ignoring the klaxon alarm sirens that were now kicking in all over the area.

**D**rake lifted his hand quickly, clenched it and pushed it to one side. The rest of the team took note quickly and ducked for cover as a squad of Legionnaires ran past them and down the corridor opposite, heading towards some unknown goal at a quick pace. A moment later the corridors were shrouded in a deep red light, emergency strobes kicking in at head height all down the passageways. The red throbbing cast ghastly shadows all over and Drake smiled behind his skull mask. _"Looks like the party has started boys and girls"_

_"You think they found the others outside?"_ Carlos asked matter-of-factly.

_"No"_ Jacob interrupted. _"My reports are showing that the second facility is under attack" _

_"He's started then…"_ Carlos silently replied, adjusting his grip on the heavy weapon he carried.

_"Yes…it appears so…" _

"_Well let's capitalise on this turn of events then shall we" _

Drake looked at Julie-Su who was using a mouldy drainage pipe as cover and then glanced back down the corridor to the direction the Legionnaires had been running. _"I say we head that way, straight after them"_ he used his hand in a chopping motion, signalling the direction. _"The call is yours though boss"_

Jacob looked down the corridor and then at the rest of the team. _"Remove your silencers, the time for stealth has ended" _

God unscrewed the long adjustment from his rifle and deftly stowed it in a chest pocket. _"For the Guardians?"_ he asked.

_"Screw the Guardians"_ Delilah replied. _"For the Island…" _

"_Hoo-rah"_ Drake cooed as leapt from his position, sprinting towards the darkened door and whatever was beyond.

**H**e punched as hard as he dared and was rewarded with a bone shattering thud. The armoured Legionnaire that had come looking for him buckled for a moment with a cry and then went limp in his hands. Knuckles span him around and used his saggy form as cover as he continued to fire with his left hand. The accurate shots making another trooper who had accompanied the first fall to the floor clutching a terrible chest wound. He threw the legionnaire shield aside and managed to duck into cover quickly enough to avoid a rocket that streaked past him and detonated a few metres away, covering him with dense shrapnel and dust.

It was starting to get interesting. A quick check of the ammo counter on his pistol revealed some more raw facts. He rolled his eyes, it had three rounds left, the other one having dried up nearly two minutes ago.

Knuckles leant down and picked up a powerful rifle the unfortunate legionnaire had been carrying, tearing it out of the trooper's hands which still somehow clung onto it. He flicked it to maximum spread and then tried to move again.

The corridor he was in was pockmarked with holes and smoke from the firefight he had instigated. Every second he wasted with the troops at the end of the tunnel was another second they were being reinforced. When he stepped out to return fire, the entire length of passageway lit up with a fusillade of white-hot shots that was devastating, forcing him stay in cover until it ceased.

He leant down quickly and grabbed the brace of grenades the dead trooper wore. Taking a few practise swings with the belt he pulled one of the pins and then hurled the makeshift device down the corridor. Someone shouted "Grenade!" in a mechanical voice before the detonation rocked the walls and sent a vicious piece of metal spinning down the tunnel past him. He stepped out immediately and fired the full clip whilst sprinting down the tunnel knowing full well if he hit anything it would be by pure chance. He burst through the smoke of the explosion and caught a glimpse of steel to his right.

Lashing out with the rifle butt he knocked a stunned Legionnaire to the floor and then span the weapon around by its barrel to smash his accomplice to the floor also, streaking blood all over the fiends face. Someone tried to grab him from behind and he took the fools arms in his and mule kicked him in the chest, breaking ribs and muscle. The dust cloud covered most of the area but he could still see another group of troops running up to engage him. With a snarl he continued on down the passage at a flat out run determined to get them before they shot him.

Knuckles would have reached them but a large mechanical creature managed to intercept him first. It was a horrible mix of dark technology and mechanics. Somewhere amongst all the tonnes of steel plates, armour, fake organs and wires was a living breathing Echidna, hardly any different to himself. The evil beast hit him in the side with a massive armoured club that was part of its right arm. It knocked him sideways into the wall and he struck his head on a broken stone, cutting it above the right eye. Heavily dazed, he couldn't block the second assault that hit him square in the chest, forcing him backward and down to one knee. His head swimming from the pounding, Knuckles smashed the kneecap of the creature's right leg with his armoured left fist, shattering it and used the moment to shoulder barge it back a few steps.

"You can hit me harder next time little one…" the beast gurgled, as if oil actually soaked its windpipe. "You'll have to do much better than that…"

Knuckles smiled and wiped the blood away from his eye. "Don't worry my friend, I intend to…"

The Legionnaire watched in horror as the Guardian shook violently for a split second, his eyes flashing from a violet colour to a bright pupil-less yellow and then back to a violet again. He was unable to react as Knuckles jumped forward, used his knee as a springboard, and uppercutted him under the chin. Everything at that point went black.

Knuckles carried on with the momentum of the attack and propelled himself over the now decapitated Legionnaire that still remained upright. He landed on his feet behind the monster looking intently down the corridor at the group who had watched over the fight with interest. Slowly behind him, the headless Destroyer fell over with a loud bang; its grinning head rolled and came to a dramatic stop next to Knuckles foot.

"Who's next?" he growled.

The group of troopers at the corridor intersection made a subconscious group decision that it wasn't going to be them. They turned and ran through a reinforced door, closing it tight behind them.

Knuckles shook his head to try and clear the fuzziness and then focused on the job at hand. He had definitely caused enough havoc here now to warrant him getting out and leaving it behind. Some gut instinct told him though that this wasn't what it seemed, and for such a small secondary outpost it was over guarded and over protected. Add to that the fact it was the sixth Destroyer in three months that he had encountered, and the fact the Dark Legion only ever deployed them in places where they really needed security and you started to get a worrying mix. A drop of blood from his head dripped to the floor and splashed. His energy was draining away quicker than he had hoped, a week ago the cut would have healed immediately.

In that moment it all seemed so simple, no red tape or bureaucracy. He didn't really have a choice at all. It was his job to find out what was happening here. Clenching his fists he glared at the reinforced door again, aimed for the centre of it and charged at full speed.

**J**ulie-Su bent back the trooper's weapon, using his own firm grip to lever it to one side whilst she kicked it from his hands. It scattered across the floor, firing a random shot into the darkness. Whilst he regained his composure she chopped him in the windpipe twice in quick succession, making him fall to his knees, clutching his neck.

Jacob stepped up and kicked him to the floor with a powerful attack. The Legionnaire whimpered a little as he fell to the ground, smashing his face on the cold stone floor.

Carlos levelled his heavy plasma blaster and fired off a deafening burst of firepower into a darkened room that a squad of Legion had taken up defensive positions in. The staccato of the support weapon sent dust billowing from its muzzle as it kicked up fallen masonry and particles from the floor. Six power cells ejected from the side of the weapon as he fired, three bouncing off the walls and one hitting Drake in the leg by accident causing his suit to scald with a hiss. Some shots went wild and punched steaming holes in the walls and floor but most landed exactly on target. No one returned fire from the room; they had either fled or taken cover from the overwhelming firepower.

"Enjoying yourself?"

Carlos lifted his visor for a second, a massive smile on his face. He took a deep sniff and closed his eyes. "Love the smell of plasma…" he purred.

Drake rolled his eyes and fired off another short burst down the corridor for good measure. "Cover me whilst I set this up" he asked.

Carlos nodded and replaced his visor. "Sure thing buddy" he replied. "Load me Frank"

God stepped over from his firing position quickly and grabbed another six power cells from Carlos's modified back pack. He slammed them home and then tapped him on the head. "You're good".

The deafening roar of close-proximity heavy weapons fire started up again, mixed in with a maniacal laughing as Carlos tore up the room and corridor for a second time.

Delilah moved over to help drake setting up the explosive whilst Jacob and Julie-Su interrogated the captured Legionnaire.

Jacob pulled the Legionnaires head back with a tug and ripped off the hood. Underneath was a remarkably ordinary looking Echidna male of mid years, his face heavily robotocised on the right side. He scowled at him and struggled to stay conscious through a blood shot eye. "Traitors…" he screeched.

Julie-Su looked at the Commanders skull mask; she knew that underneath he would be scowling deeply. "Where are the rest of you?" she demanded.

The Legionnaire coughed up some blood and spittle. "Screw you…"

Jacob pulled out his pistol and thrust it under the Legionnaires neck, making him raise his head backward as it stubbed into his flesh. "Mark my words heretic, and mark them well. For I have no time for fun and games. Tell me why this place was almost unguarded and ill make sure you get a quick end, don't and ill let you suffer…"

Delilah looked over at the pair, a shiver streaking down her spine as she listened to him threaten the captive. Then she carried on arming the bomb.

The Legionnaire flittered out of consciousness and then back again. When he came around he seemed to way up his options. Jacob cocked the hammer on his sidearm just to reinforce the point. "There is a gathering at the second site scheduled for tonight. The local commanders will be there and so will a few of their lieutenants" he laughed through smashed lungs. "Looks like you picked a pretty crap time to turn up"

Jacob gripped the troopers head and pulled him close up to his mask at eyelevel. Nothing was said. The Legionnaire lifted his hands, gripping the Commanders shoulders pathetically and then silently died.

He held him there for a few moments and then with a sigh he dropped the corpse to the floor. "We need to get out of here and get back to the second site as quickly as possible, the Guardian may need help"

Drake looked up; he had his mask raised and a wire bit between his teeth. Delilah gently took it from him and linked it into the detonator. The arming lights flickered with amber warning and then stayed a steady green colour. "Were good to go here, it's all prepped"

Carlos's heavy weapon screamed to a halt, its rotary barrels sizzling with heat. "I'm out, it might be a good time to move" he shouted.

God tore off a couple of grenades and primed them. He rolled them across the floor and into the room they had been covering. A large blast rocked the doorway and a faint scream echoed from the darkness. "Let's go then, before we overstay our welcome…"

**T**he door imploded with the force of a battering ram, the brace shattering and scything two Legion down as it flew across the room like a rotor blade. Before the confusion had even ended, the pillared room lit up with plasma fire and Knuckles did well to dodge the majority of it, only a glancing hit causing a flesh wound on his left shoulder.

He head butted the nearest Legionnaire, smashing his visor in three places and then punched the next so hard he took off through the air, turning over twice before smashing into a fellow trooper. The next shot he managed to sidestep at close range, the plasma hit killing the trooper behind him. The firer realised his mistake and for a heartbeat made the error of stopping. Knuckles levelled him with a backhander that sent him spinning away with a scream.

The blood was pumping now, a few minor injuries doing nothing to slow his onslaught. The nearest enemy simply dropper their weapons and bolted, only to be cut down by some screaming officer for cowardice. It took him a second to realise that the shots were intensifying again and he needed to find cover. He dived for a large thick square pillar a moment before an enormously loud weapon kicked in, literally cutting down the troopers still stood in the open. Kneeling and using the pillar as a blockade he took a couple of deep ragged breaths, trying to regain composure.

"Give it up fool, you're surrounded and I've got more reinforcements on the way even as we speak"

Knuckles risked a glance around the pillar and was rewarded with a close range shot that pulverised some of the stone, turning it to dust. Behind his mask he smiled. Monologue. It was one of _those_ officers. As a second thought he activated his emergency beacon on his wrist. "Really? So have I" he bluffed.

"I applaud your enthusiasm my friend, I really do, but get a hold of yourself. You're surrounded, cut off and completely outmatched"

Knuckles gritted his teeth and looked around for a way out. In a Legionnaires visor on the floor he could see six or seven of the main guard taking up firing positions behind the pillars opposite him. There was still no sign of the leader. A quick stock take revealed had no ammunition, no explosives and he was getting seriously short of energy. Another heavy hit would probably wipe him out. He tapped the emergency beacon again for good measure.

_"Right about now would be a fantastic time for the assistance!"_ he shouted down his radio mic.

As if in answer to his request there was a loud thud, followed by another three immediately afterward. The room shook slightly for a moment and then the explosions began to get much closer and louder.

_"Guardian, we are on route to your position, eta two minutes"_ It was Jacobs voice, as calm as ever. _"Hold on…"_

A large explosion obviously pounded the complex directly above because part of the roof collapsed with a deafening crash. The lights died and a small fire broke out nearby. A second explosion sent a super hot fireball roaring across the room, incinerating a couple of the hiding and stunned soldiers. Knuckles smiled at the turn in fortune and made a mental note of buying the gunship pilots a cold beer if he got back. He flicked down his mask again and engaged the night vision.

"I'm still here fool, show yourself…"

Knuckles ducked down low and rolled across the room quickly rising up out of the smoke and haze like a demon rising out of the under depths.

The Legionnaire commander managed to raise his heavy pistol and fire a shot as a reflex action which Knuckles was able to easily avoid with his advantage of surprise. He grabbed the commander's pistol and knocked it to a side making it go off again. Before he could react the officer had drew a long powered sabre and took a few purposeful swipes, making him jump back twice in order to dodge the midriff aimed attacks.

Knuckles grabbed a piece of pipe in both hands from the floor and held it defensively. The next attack was aimed at his head and he intercepted it with the pipe which severed in two. The sword simply carried on downward and cut a deep wound in his shoulder, and then again as the Legionnaire pressed home the attack. Knuckles roared in pain and then directed the strength into two blows to the arm and fist with the pair of foot long pipes he now brandished. The commander didn't drop his sword but it gave him enough time to take a few steps back and reconsider his options. With a snarl he leapt again, sword clutched between his hands in an over head swing that would cut him the Guardian in two.

Knuckles narrowly sidestepped the attack which raised sparks off the concrete floor. He punched his adversary in the ribs, feeling a few shatter and then fell to one knee, completely exhausted. The officer staggered away, clutching his grievously wounded side and cursed at him. "You fool, you think you can stop me?" he cried and then he launched into a last desperate charge towards the wounded Guardian. Knuckles looked up at him as he approached and raised his right hand to hopefully turn the blow aside…

A burst of shots screamed though the darkness and impacted on the charging Legionnaire, literally sending him skidding sideways and coming to a brisk stop against part of the collapsed roof. He sagged over the concrete rubble, a large set of steaming wounds on his side and upper leg.

Knuckles took a deep breath and clutched his shoulder with a hand, he checked it and growled in pain as he realised it was still bleeding.

"You okay?" a familiar female voice shouted through the flickering darkness.

"Yeah, I feel like a million dollars" he replied.

Julie-Su stepped into vision with her rifle raised, her slender form reflecting the light from the flames. She took a quick look around, stepped over to him and knelt down. "_I found him"_ she radioed back in.

"_Received, closing in now"_ Jacob signalled back.

"Let me take a look at that for you"

Knuckles shook his head. "I'm okay, it's just a little tender" he pointed towards the bomb on his back in the black rucksack. "Lets get this sorted and get the hell out of here, I need a rest"

Julie-Su took a quick look over his shoulder and then at the discarded sword on the floor. "He was using a shiver-blade" she took out a bandage from her leg pouch and held it tight against his wound. "They are only given to high ranking officers"

"Jules, the bomb…"

"Screw the bomb" she growled whilst looking directly into his eyes. He could see her stern face behind the dark green visor.

Delilah and Drake dropped down onto the rubble from the floor above a moment later. They crossed the room and Delilah unclipped her medical kit, set it down and took over from Julie-Su.

Drake took a quick look around and then due to curiosity turned the dead officer over with his foot. He leant down and rummaged through the pockets, going as far as to remove the Legionnaires boots and gloves. Finally after a searching his inner jacket he found what he was looking for. "Bingo" he chuckled. "A data slab…"

Julie-Su took it from him lightly and rotated it between two fingers. "Pity it's smashed to bits, could have had some real decent information on here…" she looked over her shoulder at Knuckles accusingly. He was sitting down against a pillar whilst Delilah treated his shoulder and head.

He smiled.

"_Are you finished?"_ Jacobs's voice came over the radio.

Julie-Su put a hand to her ear and replied. _"Yes Commander, good to go" _

"_Excellent, home in on my marker, we've found something interesting…" _

**T**hey found the other three on the top floor of the complex, studying a large black box with no distinct markings. It was held suspended in the air by a trio of small anti gravitational pillars which basked it in a yellow haze. The object rotated with mesmerizing slowness.

"Any ideas what it is?" Carlos asked Jacob.

He lifted his visor and shook his head. "No idea, it resembles some kind of hologram chip motherboard but ive never seen one this big before"

"Lets take it" Drake purred.

"We don't know what that would do" Delilah scalded him.

"We don't have the time to find out" Knuckles grunted through the pain.

"Indeed, we are sitting ducks here" God added.

Drake leant out and put his hands around the box, like he was clutching the most important piece of jewellery in the universe. "Lets get the hell out of here and let Locke decide when we get back, besides, I want to stroke it…"

Just as the box left the yellow haze, the pillars dimmed and then died with a fizzle. A red klaxon light roared into life accompanied by a high pitched alarm.

"Cant be good" Carlos spat.

Julie-Su walked over to the nearest monitor screen and pressed various touch screens. "The box was a piece of a large jigsaw, some kind of long range device, possibly to boost something. They know its missing, im getting questions from an encrypted location"

"Lie to them, tell them nothing has happened". Delilah stepped up to the monitor to look at the screen.

"Its no good, they know we are here"

Jacob stood motionless for a second and then opened a general radio frequency. _"Red sword leader this is red dagger do you receive?"_

A heavy hum from inside a gunship's cockpit filled the radios channel. _"Reading you loud and clear red dagger, go ahead" _

_"Request emergency evacuation at site two, possible hostiles inbound" _

"_Affirmative dagger, evacuation in one minute, we will keep airspace clear for you" _

Jacob cut the line and then paced towards the exit. _"Let's go, bring the box…"_


End file.
